Left to Right – Professor Mary Stuart, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln; Barry Hale, co-founder of Threshold Studios and co-Director of Frequency Festival, and Darren Henley Chief Executive of Arts Council England. Photo: Jack Ford

Frequency Festival, Lincoln’s biennial celebration of digital culture, will return for a fourth edition in 2017 thanks to a major grant award from Arts Council England.

Yesterday Arts Council England announced funding of £165,000 through its National Lottery funded Grants for the Arts programme to support Frequency 2017, a 10-day programme of arts events which will take place from 20 – 29th October 2017 during Autumn Half Term.

Frequency is brought to Lincoln through an established relationship between Threshold Studios, an artist-led creative media and visual arts organisation specialising in the production of digital, moving image and public realm works; the University of Lincoln, Lincoln BIG, Visit Lincoln and Lincolnshire One Venues, alongside many other organisations and businesses across the city. In 2017 Frequency will also be working with the Woodland Trust and regional and national partner organisations on activities celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, announced the grant award for this year’s Frequency Festival as he addressed an audience from across the region’s arts, culture and tourism sectors at the Lincoln Culture and Arts Partnership Conference, supported by Visit Lincoln and Lincoln BIG and staged at the University of Lincoln. Other high profile speakers at the conference included Lady Cobham, Chair of Visit England.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said:

“I’m delighted that we are supporting this year’s Frequency Festival through our National Lottery funded Grants for the Arts programme. The festival is a wonderful fusion of new and old, showcasing some of the best contemporary digital art in a place steeped in so much history. The Arts Council has invested in Frequency Festival since its early days, and it’s wonderful to see that it is now a significant event in Lincoln’s cultural calendar, attracting visitors from afar but also giving the people of Lincoln a chance to see their own city in a different light. I very much look forward to seeing what this year’s programme has to offer.”

Ten days of discovery will see audiences explore the city through this year’s theme of ‘disPLACEment’. Digital artists and interactive designers from the city, county and across the globe will converge on Lincoln to present new and innovative work investigating the role the digital realm plays in influencing and reinforcing our future sense of place, culture and identity.

Concluding on the eve of the city’s celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest, the ‘sister’ document to the Magna Carta preserved on display at Lincoln Castle, the festival will also examine concepts of the creative commons and rights in a digital age. Lincoln is the only place in the world that originals of the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest can be viewed side-by-side.

In 2015, Frequency attracted more than 17,000 visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Frequency 2017 is set to reveal the hidden layers of the world around us, with new experiences shared and new worlds of imagination created.

“Lincoln is a truly special place where the past fuels provocation and debate about our present and our futures. Frequency is an access-for-all festivalthat celebrates and debates the ever-growing realm of digital culture in the heart of the Lincoln and we continue to be grateful to Arts Council England, partners and collaborators and most crucially a dedicated public, who make us determined to keep growing the festival into an international moment for the city.”

Professor Mary Stuart, Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln and Chair of the Lincoln Cultural and Arts Partnership, said:

“We are delighted at this show of support from Arts Council England in the next edition of Frequency in what is another incredibly exciting year for arts, culture and heritage in Lincoln and Lincolnshire. Since its inception in 2011, Frequency has become a highlight of the region’s cultural calendar and is making a profound impact on the city, attracting international artists and thousands of visitors, as well as engaging local audiences and creating volunteering opportunities for hundreds of young people. Frequency is the product of a very special partnership between organisations across the city and Threshold Studios and we look forward to delivering another spectacular series of events this year.”

The full programme for Frequency 2017 will be announced over August and September.